A segmented market is one that’s more valuable to you. Demographic segmentation, in particular, is often the first step in creating customer profiles that help you make better products, messages, and close deals. Before we had things like Facebook and Google that let you target your customer’s interests, intent, and behaviors, all we... more

It’s been a few months since we launched our beta and less than a month since we launched a KyLeads V1. We’ve been quiet about exactly what improvements and changes we’ve made. It’s not that we’ve been hanging out on a beach in Bali, it’s because the updates were complex and involved a lot of moving pieces. We wanted to minimize the... more

There’s a well-trodden path for developing a viable startup. Come up with an idea, build an MVP, and do beta testing to catch bugs while making the startup better. It’s simple right? One thing I’ve learned is that simple is NOT the same as easy. After four months and tons of beta testing lessons, we’ve officially ended our testing... more

Have you heard this startup narrative? Come up with an idea, build it, launch to an audience that accepts you wholeheartedly, and watch the money roll in. While that may happen to a select few, it’s a bit different for us mere mortals. Before your product is ready for prime time, it needs to be tested by a pool of users who represent... more

Roughly one year ago, I started looking into hiring software developers to build KyLeads and plot world domination. It proved to be more of a challenge than I’d anticipated. I went in thinking it couldn’t be more difficult than hiring a virtual assistant. I was wrong. Before I started KyLeads, my only experience hiring tech talent was... more

Before we talk about tripwire offers, there’s something we should all understand. Nothing in business is free. It costs money to get new customers (whether through ads, interactive content, blogging, or social media) and that eats into your profits. It’s easier and cheaper to sell to an existing customer. They’ve bought from you... more

Last updated October 26, 2018 In 2017, Affiliate marketing was responsible for billions of dollars in sales for vendors. It was also responsible for billions of dollars of revenue for the affiliates promoting the offers. Instead of shrinking, the industry is growing. The problem is a few super affiliates are taking home most of the... more

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about a business idea he had. It was a pretty solid idea with proven demand and he was in a good position to execute on it. He has a relevant audience, the financial resources, and could get a team together quickly. There were two things preventing him from pulling the trigger. He didn’t... more

You’re surfing Facebook and run across a quiz about sculpting your abs. You click through and it has a nice title and the description makes you want to dive right in – so you do. Something is off. The quiz questions seem irrelevant. You answer a few but feel like you’re being shortchanged so you click the back button and write the... more

Last updated on October 23, 2018 Right after traffic, your conversion rates are the best gauge of how well your website is doing. You know what’s crazy? 40% of marketers cite a conversion rate of less than 0.5%. For every 200 people that visit a website, only one person takes the desired action. That’s no good. What do... more

A few weeks ago, we were throwing around ideas about how we could build awareness and an email list for KyLeads ahead of our beta launch. We’ve been blogging and creating content on other platforms so that was bringing in a few visitors every day. We needed something that was relatively cheap because we had no data about our core metrics... more

Have you ever been on a website, saw an irresistible offer, got it, and felt disappointed in the thank you page? Instead of continuing an incredible interaction, the relationship becomes sterile and transactional. The thank you page is an often neglected part of your website. It’s just something you have to create – right? Not... more

I can guarantee you’ve experienced message match while wandering the internet (or a failed attempt at message match). Think about the last time you clicked on an ad, social post, or link in an email. Were your expectations met or were you wondering why you were sent to that page? If you were confused, then you’ve experienced message... more

Does your brand exist to make a lot of money or does it have a deeper reason why? Seriously, why was your company formed? Is it worth the bandwidth it takes to render your site or the pixels on your web pages? Many times, no one sits down to think about it. There’s no wider goal or mission. Is yours any different? When I was busy... more

Marketese is your enemy. Marketese kills your conversions. Marketese is to be fought with extreme prejudice. If marketese were a living creature, we’d shoot it in the head, drag it back to its home, shoot all its offspring, burn everything to the ground, then dissolve the remains. Marketese is a disease. If left unchecked, it... more

Headline formulas are like the holy grail of blogging, landing pages, opt-in forms, and quizzes. Why? Because more people see your headline than ever look at the body of your content. If you use a poor headline, it does not matter how hard you labor over your copy because your copy will not be read. – John Caples If your headline sucks... more

It's about time we started optimizing for humans. I started my journey into all things digital a little under a decade ago. What works has changed. It was easier to get an email address. It was harder for people to pay for things. There weren’t so many digital services. It was hard as hell to get a payment processor that you... more